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Reviews for The Best of Western Cuba

Trip notes

Each departure date has its own dedicated trip note, detailing all you need to know about that trip. Whether you've already booked, or weighing up your options, please choose carefully the relevant itinerary for you.

We have the following different versions of the The Best of Western Cuba trip available at present.

Johanna

Gret Missenden

General Comments

I can't rate this trip highly enough.Loved the vintage car ride through Havana and the boat trip to Iguana island.(yes there are loads of iguanas)There is so much to list all I can say is' just go' and enjoy the music and mohitos!

Angela

Midlands

General Comments

Great tour which covered so many highlights of Cuba in the time we had. The tour guide Thalia was brilliant, very knowledgeable and very good English, all delivered with a good sense of humour, and a good balance of information of Cuban history, culture, tips for day to day needs. There was a mix of activities including city walking tours, gentle country treks, and opportunies for salsa dancing, cocktail making and a dip in the Caribbean. Meals were in a variety of restaurants and standard was high. The hotel Sevilla in Havana was typically Cuban and was centrally located. The three night stay in the Casa in Trinidad was a wonderful experience, living right in the heart of the town community. The bus trip between Havana and Trinidad was unavoidably long but broken by interesting stops such as the Caribbean beach bar and the Che museum. On our last day in Havana we managed a trip in a convertible, purple Pontiac. Highly recommend this! Also a trip on a bicycle taxi took us down narrow back streets which we would otherwise have missed. Overall a fantastic holiday.

Lynda

Gosport

General Comments

This was my first “Explore” holiday and I travelled solo, therefore I went very much with an open mind. Our group was small (9 people) but this worked well; we all got on great and stuck together, even during free time.

The tour gave a good overview of Cuba, although at times did appear to be an educational trip of Cuban history 1950’s to present day! Although a knowledge of the history helped to understand present day Cuba, I personally could have done with a little less!

Havana is a vibrant amazing place, and the one day there worked well. I loved Vinalles, the countryside is lush but unique, maybe due to the red tobacco fields. The local guide we had for this day was great. Although we saw all there was to see in one day, I would have loved the opportunity to have overnighted here, the Casas looked beautiful. (The tour notes had described this as a trek, but more of a stroll, which was fine in 30 degrees +!)

The journey to the south of Cuba worked well with our first swim in the Caribbean and the Cenote being standout highlights.

I loved Trinidad but feel that this should have been extended to 3 days, day one was spent exploring the town, by day 2 I was ready for some chill/beach time, but this meant that I missed the trip to the mountains which according to others in our group was THE highlight of the holiday.

The return journey to Havana was long and boring, the only really stop being in Santa Clara, which although was interesting, I could have done without.

The Seville Hotel in Havana, was well placed and perfectly adequate! The first Casa I was allocated in Trinidad was awful, however I was moved that same evening, into a wonderful one, where I had a spacious, modern room with a lovely family.

Although the tour states 8 days, it is actually only 6; we met at 08.30 on the Monday morning, and the tour ended at 17.00 on the Saturday.

In summary of the above I had a great time, I loved Cuba and would look to book with Explore again, although would be careful to read between the lines and to consider extending the holiday at either (or both) ends.

Sara

General Comments

action packed and varied,this gave a great insight to Cuba,helped greatly by local guide,Talia.The combination of a lovely hotel in Havana and a couple's home in Trinidad worked perfectly.there was even time for 3 swims and snorkelling in the Caribbean sea. perfect!

Julie

maidstone

General Comments

Great itinerary - full of insight into a fascinating country.Highlights were Vinhales area and staying in the Casa in Trinidadwould have liked to do both optional excursions - and had a little more free time. two more days would have been perfect.

Hi Patrick, while I'm delighted your trip to Cuba scored so highly, I'm sorry you're unhappy with our request for feedback. We genuinely want to hear your feedback, but we're conscious that your time is precious so we do try and keep the questions to a minimum! Nevertheless, I hope that potential customers will be encouraged by your overall rating.